Relief Society – Education In Zionhttp://educationinzion.byu.edu
Gallery in the Jospeh F. Smith BuildingTue, 17 Apr 2018 03:00:43 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.3122732786BYU College of Nursing: a unique heritagehttp://educationinzion.byu.edu/2013/02/08/byu-college-of-nursing-a-unique-heritage/
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:16:26 +0000http://lib.byu.edu/sites/educationinzion/?p=3659As the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the College of Nursing comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the many activities of the year, especially the college’s display at the Education in Zion Gallery. Thanks to the vision of our former dean, Dr. Beth Cole, and the support of our current dean, Dean Patricia Ravert, we have been able to collect and share some wonderful memorabilia and stories with the university community. I am especially proud of the pictures depicting students and faculty working together to bring the blessings of the Healer’s Art to many areas of the globe.

Over the past decade, the College of Nursing has developed a unique, worldwide nursing program. Many of the pictures in the display feature nursing students teaching and healing. Some of these populations include US veterans returning from war, American Indians on reservations, children from leprosy-afflicted families in India, and families in Tonga and Africa. The College of Nursing has truly embraced the university’s motto “the world is our campus.”

Personally, as the faculty curator of this exhibition, I have delighted in discovering the rich and unique heritage of our college. Starting from our Relief Society roots in pioneer Utah and spanning to our modern, worldwide influence, our history is filled with incredible stories and inspiration.

This project was made possible through the efforts of many faculty members, nursing administrators, exhibit experts, and our wonderful students—both past and present—who make all our efforts worthwhile. I would like to extend my appreciation to all of the contributors. May the next few decades be as rich and fulfilling as the past.

While reading the preface I came across these words: “Relief Society is not just about women who lived in the past; it is also about women all over the world today who make and keep covenants.” Reading this made me feel special, like I was part of something larger than life.

It also made me reflect upon the place where I work. The Education in Zion Gallery is not just about men and women in the past or even those only at BYU. It is also about men and women all over the world today who make the most of their education by combining the spiritual and secular. In this way we make an education for the whole soul and truly are part of something larger than life.

]]>2844Eliza R. Snow and the Relief Societyhttp://educationinzion.byu.edu/2010/06/25/eliza-r-snow-and-the-relief-society/
Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:35:29 +0000http://lib.byu.edu/sites/educationinzion/?p=1794When it comes to the Relief Society, one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the world, perhaps no one stands more respected, or as widely recognized, as Eliza Roxcy Snow.

Eliza, a renowned poet, converted to the Church in Ohio, and used her skills in writing and education to benefit the whole Church. She was also responsible for bringing many saints into the Church, including her brother, Lorenzo Snow, who later became the fifth president of the Church.

When the Saints moved to Illinois, Eliza became a founding member of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, established in March of 1842. Unanimously elected to be its secretary, Eliza took meticulous minutes of each meeting. As Joseph Smith counseled the original Relief Society: “The minutes of your meetings will be precedents for you to act upon—your Constitution and law.”[i] As a result of Eliza’s exceptional dedication, the Church now has six detailed sermons Joseph Smith gave to the Relief Society in Nauvoo.

In the late 1860s, many years after the Saints left Nauvoo, Brigham Young sought to reconstitute the Relief Society for the women of the Church in Utah. Though sporadic meetings had been held when the Saints first arrived to Utah, it had been 25 years since the Relief Society had met in an official capacity. It was Eliza whom the Prophet called upon to take charge of the new Relief Society. Thankfully, like any good mother in Zion, Eliza carefully preserved things, and still had all her notes from Nauvoo.

Using these minutes recorded during the early Nauvoo meetings, Eliza created a constitution to unite the sisters of the Church in name, purpose, and organization. Traveling to several settlements with her counselors, she used her experience to train and inspire women all across the Church. Soon the Relief Society penetrated practically every settlement of the Church.

Members of the Church, male and female, have Eliza R. Snow to thank for the foundations of the organization that Joseph F. Smith called “divinely made, divinely authorized, divinely instituted, divinely ordained of God to minister for the salvation of the souls of women and of men.”[ii]

Instead of depending entirely on our husbands for salvation and position, we have

to work them out ourselves. The responsibility and labor that devolve upon

women are becoming more important. … God has put the means into your hands

to become queens and priestesses in his kingdom, if you will only live for it.